Latest news with #AustraliaSport
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Kaylee McKeown defies shoulder scare to win 100m backstroke world title
Australia's backstroke star Kaylee McKeown has overcome an injury scare to capture another world title. Just weeks after dislocating a shoulder, McKeown notched a personal best to win the women's 100m backstroke at swimming's world championships in Singapore on Tuesday night. After compatriot Lani Pallister claimed the women's 1500m freestyle bronze medal, McKeown triumphed in a time just 0.03 seconds outside of the world record. The Queenslander produced a trademark flying finish to edge her great rival and world record holder, American Regan Smith. McKeown touched in an Australian record 57.16 seconds, ahead of Smith (57.35) who holds the world record of 57.13. The 24-year-old revealed she was injured between Australia's selection trials last month and this meet. 'I have got a really flexible stroke and it's my benefit when I swim my backstrokes,' she said. 'But sometimes it can cause me to dislocate my shoulder. 'It's been quite irritated but I have got a good medical team and physiotherapists to help me get through. I'm really really proud. It's a little bit emotional.' McKeown has ticked the first box in what she hopes is a golden double in Singapore – backstroke wins over 100 and 200 metres. In the women's 1500m freestyle, Pallister took bronze – just as she did in the event at the worlds three years ago. Fellow Australian Moesha Johnson, a week after winning two gold medals for Australia at the open water world championships, finished seventh. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Pallister (15 minutes 41.18 seconds) and Johnson (16:02.45) joined a decades-long list of swimmers left in the wake of American megastar Katie Ledecky. The peerless Ledecky (15:26.44) has now won 22 world titles and her gold on Tuesday took her overall medal tally to 28, second only to compatriot Michael Phelps's 33. 'They're all stressful in some ways, relaxing in some ways,' Ledecky said. 'I just try to enjoy each one. 'I certainly feel very confident in my 1500, my ability to hold a pace, so I just wanted to lock into a fast pace from the start and hold on to it.' In the women's 200m freestyle semi-finals, Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan and Jamie Perkins advanced to Wednesday night's medal race as second- and fifth-fastest qualifiers respectively.
The Guardian
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Missed the wedding but won Bells: Australian surfer Isabella Nichols finally gets her fairytale
Resurgent Australian Isabella Nichols has claimed the biggest victory of her surfing career by downing young Brazilian star Luana Silva in the women's final at Bells Beach. Earlier this month, Nichols made the agonising choice not to attend her twin sister's wedding and shoot for surfing glory instead in El Salvador. The 27-year-old had reckoned tearfully that it had been the biggest sacrifice of her life. She missed out on a fairytale at Punta Roca, defeating Australia's current rising star Molly Picklum in the semi-finals only to be defeated narrowly in the final, 14.33-11.74 by Gabriela Bryan, the 23-year-old Hawaiian. But the former world junior champ has now gone one better at Bells, throwing down the gauntlet with a big early score of 8.33 points and backing it up to win 16.26 points to 12.67 at the famous Victorian break. 'The process for this win has honestly been a 15-year process,' Nichols said. 'I've been coming here since I was 15 years old. All the trips down here, three times a year to come down and work on my technique and it's all paid off. 'To have a bell, honestly this does not feel real. I'm speechless.' Nichols only made her way back on to the elite Champions Tour (CT) this year and her only other victory on the CT came three years ago at the Margaret River Pro. The Hawaiian-born Silva, 20, won the world junior title this year, the same event that Nichols saluted at back in 2016. Now Nichols, who was on the cusp of quitting the sport in 2023 to focus on engineering studies and her goal of building wave pools, has her revenge. Earlier on Sunday, Nichols took down her celebrated countrywoman and two-time world champ Tyler Wright in the semis. The men's final later on Sunday will pit Australia's Paris Olympics silver medallist Jack Robinson against Japan's Kanoa Igarashi. The 27-year-old Robinson left it late before sneaking past American Griffin Colapinto in the second semi. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Robinson's final 7.17-point wave saw him edge ahead 14.67-14.33. The Aussie started his day with a 15.94-14.57 victory over American Jake Marshall in the last quarter-final. After a thrilling run through the event, Australian wildcard Morgan Cibilic had no luck in a low-scoring semi-final loss to Igarashi, where decent-sized waves were at a premium. Cibilic only caught his second wave of the heat in the final minute and fell, gifting victory to Igarashi, 10.27 points to 5.37. 'It is what is at the end of the day - you can't argue with the ocean,' said a philosophical Cibilic. 'But it is pretty brutal.'
The Guardian
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Alex de Minaur sounds warning with ruthless victory at Madrid Open
While Alex de Minaur looks more comfortable and impressive on the clay with every passing match, the great Novak Djokovic seems to be losing his magical powers on the red stuff. For while Australia's No 1 kicked off his Madrid Open quest with a clinical 6-2 6-3 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday, all the talk at the Caja Magica surrounded another dismal first-round defeat for Djokovic, whose quest for 100 titles took another savage hit. De Minaur made just nine unforced errors in a clinical, almost Djokovic-like dismantling of Sonego, before the mighty Serb, almost unthinkably, then went out and lost his third match in a row, succumbing tamely to incredulous Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3 6-4. It was such a disappointing defeat for the 37-year-old Djokovic that he even pondered afterwards whether he would be back next year, a sure sign he's concerned his powers really are on the decline. De Minaur's clay-court prowess, though, is clearly only on the up. 'Como en casa' he scrawled on the camera lens after his 75-minute lesson to Sonego. In other words, the clay courts feel just like home to the Spanish-based Aussie at the moment. The world No 7 reached the semi-final in Monte Carlo and the quarters in Barcelona, and admits he now feels completely different on the clay this year, full of confidence on a surface that once tormented him. The 26-year-old is now looking at the prospect of a big run in the Masters 1000 event at altitude on the faster Madrid courts to set him on his way to Roland Garros. 'I was very happy with how I settled mentally, and was able to bounce back straight back after losing my serve first game and I really ended up playing some great tennis. So very happy with that.' 'The thing that's been helping me out the most has been the serve. Today was a great serving day for me, and it made my life a lot easier,' added the Aussie, who next faces Denis Shapovalov in the third round after the Canadian southpaw outplayed Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4. Asked about his striking general clay-court improvement, de Minaur added: 'You see less unforced errors from me, and at the same time, you see me being a little bit more aggressive, able to hurt my opponents in different ways.' Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion For Djokovic, though, the old assuredness has - for now at least - deserted him after he followed up his Miami Open final defeat and Monte Carlo Masters first-round loss with another sub-par outing, littered with 32 unforced errors. 'I've had a few of these this year where I lose in the first round, unfortunately,' sighed Djokovic. 'Still my level of tennis is not where I would like it to be.' Asked if he'd just played his last match in Madrid, Djokovic said: 'It could be, it could be. I'm not sure if I will come back. So, I don't know, I don't know what to say. 'I mean, I'll come back, maybe not as a player. I hope it's not, but it could be.' For world No 44 Arnaldi, though, beating his idol was a dream result. His message on the camera lens read simply: 'OMG' - 'Oh, my god'. Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas fought back against Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6 6-4 6-3 and will face 10th-seeded Loranzo Musetti, who beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australia teenager Maya Joint breaks Ash Barty's record with win on Madrid Open debut
Australia's teenage tennis sensation Maya Joint has eclipsed one of Ash Barty's records by earning her first WTA 1000 match triumph at the Madrid Open. On her tour-level clay-court main draw debut in the Spanish capital, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted local wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2 2-6 6-4 for a third win in three days. Just five days after her 19th birthday, it meant Joint became the youngest Aussie ever to win a WTA match at 'Masters' level, surpassing Barty who won in the Miami Open in 2017 when she was 20 years and 330 days. Already having earned notable wins over the experienced duo of Sara Errani and Jil Teichmann in qualifying, the US-born Joint, who's made massive strides over the past two seasons since throwing in her lot with the nation of her Australian dad, came through a roller-coaster first-round affair on Wednesday. It was the Brisbane-based youngster's first match in a tour-level clay event, but she showed why her record in lesser clay-court tournaments has been so encouraging as she overcame a second-set lapse to dominate the impressive Spanish tour debutant Martinez Cirez. Brilliant in the opening set, Joint, the second youngest teen in the world's top 100 at No 78, lost her backhand solidity in the second stanza and had to regroup in the decider, eventually cracking Martinez Cirez's serve for the fifth and most decisive time at 4-4. Joint, who was ranked 269 in the world this time last year, went on to eke out her victory in two hours seven minutes, setting up the chance to make even more waves when she faces American world No 10 Emma Navarro in the second round on Thursday. Ajla Tomljanovic's hopes of joining Joint in the last-64 ended in a disappointing 6-3 1-6 7-5 defeat to Swiss world No 153 Rebeka Masarova, who's ranked 74 places below her Australian opponent. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion With Kim Birrell having been beaten by American Peyton Stearns on Tuesday, it leaves just Joint and Daria Kasatkina, in her second competition as an Australian competitor, flying the flag in the women's draw. The 14th seed Kasatkina, who had a first-round bye, will open her account against American Alycia Parks, who booked her second-round spot with a 6-3 6-3 win over Andorran Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Gout Gout and Lachie Kennedy miss out on final as Stawell Gift favourites upset
Sprint stars Gout Gout and Lachie Kennedy have been eliminated from the Stawell Gift in the semi-finals after being unable to make up sizeable handicaps. Gout ran a strong race to finish the 120m in 12.34s but couldn't quite catch front-marker John Evans who had almost nine metres head start on the 17-year-old and won by almost a quarter of a second. 'I thought I was coming pretty hard, and when we had like 20, 10 [metres] left he was pretty ahead of me,' Gout said. 'I tried my hardest but he got me at the end. It is what it is.' Kennedy finished in 12.26s but it wasn't quick enough, as he finished second in a tight semi-final to Dash Muir, another 17-year-old in the field, by less than a tenth of a second. Only the winners of the six semi-finals reach Monday's afternoon's final, although Gout and Kennedy will now take part in the traditional backmarkers' race. The men's races were interrupted by a heavy rain shower that triggered a power failure for broadcaster Channel Seven and forced a delay of several minutes before the final two semi-finals. Gout spent the time in the rain with jacket on. 'Running in the rain is a bit harder than usual, but you can't handle the weather, so you just got to adjust,' he said. In the women's semi-finals, last year's champion Chloe Mannix-Power was eliminated after finishing third behind Jemma Stapleton, a front-marker off 11m. Mannix-Power ran a personal best over 100m in finishing fourth at last week's Australian titles, but running off scratch proved too much of an ask. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion The woman who finished one place in front of her in at the nationals, Bree Rizzo, also ran off scratch, but she started well and won her semi-final comfortably. She is aiming to follow in the footsteps of her husband Matt Rizzo who won the Stawell Gift in 2017. 'Honestly, the field is strong. I'm going to have to bring my absolute best to get to the front from scratch,' Rizzo said. 'But that's what I love about the Stawell Gift, I love the challenge and the atmosphere.' Melissa Breen is the only woman to win the race off scratch, in 2012. The finals are contested later on Monday afternoon.
